A smart love triangle in the afterlife.
We begin with an elderly couple arriving at a gender reveal party, only for the old man played by Barry Primus to suddenly die and wake up as Miles Teller in what is considered to be the afterlife. You know what they say: “Angels never grow old” and “Everyone is young in Heaven.” That’s how the new A24 comedy “Eternity” begins.
Thinking back to movies like “Heaven Can Wait,” “Beetlejuice,” or “Defending Your Life,” there are always going to be different aspects of the afterlife. How would a person react when they immediately die and are separated from their loved ones? And if there is only one eternity you can spend the rest of your life at, how could anyone choose? It’s like the souls who run this department are impatient, but we’ll cross that bridge in a second.
The recently departed Teller is named Larry Cutler, and his afterlife coordinator (AC) is the cynical Anna (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who tells him that he only has one choice of which eternity he would like to live for the rest of his life. There are no redos or changing your mind. You’re stuck with that life. As any person would be if they just died, he feels disoriented and wants to reunite with his wife Joan, who has cancer. And speaking of which, she dies too, and transitions from Betty Buckley to Elizabeth Olsen, while her AC is the flamboyant Ryan (John Early).
Before Joan married Larry, she married the soldier Luke (Callum Turner), who died in battle and spends his eternity as a bartender (imagine if Montgomery Clift played Lloyd from “The Shining”). So now, she’s torn apart between spending her eternity with Larry or Luke. This is when it becomes Hallmark material, but actually delivers with sweetness and humor honestly.
It almost plays like a much better version of “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” when Joan travels to an archives hallway, where the rooms takes her back to stage versions of her past. They’re all low key, but very effective in helping them remember their lives. Although the manager warns them he’s not responsible for any emotions they might express, they still go for them. And plus we don’t have parents and teachers with generic lines and lack of originality to drag them down.
The skies in the afterlife change like curtains. The employees are both kids and young adults (remember, angels never grow old). And if you do try to escape the eternity you chose and decided to call it quits, then you get in trouble with the afterlife authorities. Like I said: how could anyone decide what life in the afterlife they want to spend? And why do these deceased employees have to be so impatient?
Some elements are a little annoying, but “Eternity” likes to take advantage of the romcom genre that’s set in the afterlife. Olsen displays her qualities in a Meg Ryan state that her a worthy co-star in a future movie. And you must also appreciate how Teller and Turner forget the cliche of two suitors pushing each other out of the way in comical ways to try to win the girl. Instead, they both use their words, and arguments and connections merge nicely.
Written and directed by David Freyne (“Dating Amber,” “The Cured”) and co-written by Patrick Cunnane (“Designated Survivor”), “Eternity” is another one of those comedies that likes to view the afterlife, think back to other movies of its kind, and use some fresh young actors to deliver on the genre. If the afterlife is really like this, then I can decide what eternity I want to spend, but it’s best not to worry about that yet.
